Thunder
Date: October 22, 1998
Location: Tingley Coliseum, Albuqurque, New Mexico
Commentators: Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay

It’s the very last show before Halloween Havoc and we’re actually coming off a good show on Monday with every major PPV match getting some focus. Nothing has been announced for tonight but that’s usually the case coming into Thunder. I’m sure we’ll get plenty of videos on the two main events though. Let’s get to it.

The announcers talk about Hogan attacking Horace on Monday and call it a horrible act.

We look at Goldberg and Page nearly brawling after Goldberg cost Page a match against Jericho.

Super Calo vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Calo takes over with some kicks to the ribs to start and gets two off a shoulder block. A missile dropkick gets the same and Calo hooks a seated abdominal stretch to slow things down. Back up and Calo throws Rey to the apron before sending him to the floor for a big dive. Totally one sided so far. Back in and Rey climbs corner to hit a nice headscissors followed by the yet to be named 619 back inside. Calo gets caught in the ropes and the top rope legdrop to the back of his head gets two. Super gets to his feet and goes up, only to get crotched and taken down with a hurricanrana for the pin.

Rating: C-. Nice fast paced match to start things off here but there wasn’t much to it. It’s nice to see Mysterio back and mostly healthy though as no one could keep up with him when he was at even 85-90%. Calo looked better than usual here, but that doesn’t really say much as he isn’t one of the better luchadores.

Post match Eddie and the LWO comes out to offer Rey a spot but he throws the shirt back at Eddie and leaves. Chavo watches with a smile on his face from the entryway.

Video on Page vs. Goldberg.

Here’s Page for a quick chat. Monday was nothing but intensity and it makes him think of Goldberg as even more of a champion. The Diamond Cutter is enough to beat him though because he’s next. On Sunday, Goldberg will feel the BANG.

Ad for the Mastercard.

Alex Wright vs. Johnny Swinger

Wright cranks on the arm to start and puts Swinger down with a fireman’s carry takeover. Johnny comes back with an armbar of his own and a Russian legsweep has Wright in trouble. A spinwheel kick puts Swinger down and Alex drapes him ribs first over the top rope. Swinger comes back with a hard shot to the chest but gets dropkicked out of the air, setting up a neckbreaker to give Wright the pin.

Rating: D+. Just a squash here with Alex looking good as almost always. I’m still not sure why he never got a huge push but the thick accent might have had something to do with it. Or maybe that this is WCW and it’s a good day if they can tie their shoes properly. Swinger never did anything for me but he was fine for something like this.

We look at the Steiners brawling on Monday.

Video on Sting vs. Hart closing Nitro. Tony accuses Heenan of being a snitch for the NWO. Heenan: “I am not!” Tony: “That’s true. You’re a liar, a traitor, a coward and a snitch.”

TV Title: Kanyon vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho is defending and this has some serious potential. Kanyon does his Who Better bit with Jericho putting bunny ears up behind his head. Chris takes the mic and says the real question is Who Better Than Jericho. Kanyon doesn’t take kindly to gimmick infringement and the fight is quickly on. Jericho knocks him to the floor with a shoulder and we take and early break.

Back with Jericho getting two off the Lionsault as we see Raven for the first time, looking on from the apron. Jericho does his long stride and Kanyon sends him face first into the buckle to take over. The superplex from the middle of the rope (not the corner) puts Jericho down for two as the fans get distracted by something in the audience. Jericho counters a suplex into a reverse suplex for two but Kanyon comes back with a swinging neckbreaker for the same.

The announcers talk about Raven looking distracted as Jericho scores with a gutbuster but can’t get the Liontamer. An electric chair into a flapjack gets two on the champion but Jericho fights out of a superplex. Jericho tries a missile dropkick but hits the referee (Billy Kidman according to Tony and Lee) which draws in Raven. The Even Flow is easily countered into the Liontamer and Raven taps, which is good enough for a submission win for Jericho.

Rating: C+. Good while it lasted but the match was more about Raven than anything else. It’s nice to see Jericho get a win for a change, even if he was acting more like a face while doing so. The Raven story is interesting as he’s lost his edge without the Flock and could have some good stories as a result.

Clip from the new Kurt Russell movie Soldier.

We see Hogan beating up Horace and Warrior on Monday

Saturn vs. Norman Smiley

A lockup goes nowhere so Norman makes his chest dance to entertain Saturn. Apparently Saturn is more of a song than dance man as he throws Smiley down with a beal before dropping him with a t-bone suplex for two. Norman picks the ankle but Saturn is quickly in the ropes before anything can be done. A neckbreaker sends Smiley to the floor but he comes back in with a nice sunset flip for two.

Since this is a pretty good technical match so far, the announcers are talking about Horace. Saturn slams him down but misses a top rope splash, allowing Norman to take over with some uppercuts. A tiger bomb gets two for Smiley but Saturn drills him with a superkick. There’s a belly to belly to Norman followed by the Death Valley Driver for the pin.

Rating: C. The match didn’t have time to go anywhere but it was nice while it lasted, much like the previous match. Smiley is a very sound technical guy and could actually keep up with Saturn on the mat. Saturn’s superkick always looked good though and it nailed Smiley in the jaw here. Nice little match.

Lex Luger vs. Scotty Riggs

Feeling out process to start until Luger remembers he’s fighting Riggs and runs him over with some clotheslines. Riggs snaps Lex’s throat across the top rope and chokes away a lot before scoring with a dropkick. Luger quickly breaks out of a chinlock as the announcers say no one anticipated seeing Hogan vs. Warrior again eight and a half years later. A few running knees in the corner have Luger in trouble but he comes back with a suplex. Luger comes back with all of his usual stuff and finishes Riggs with the Rack.

Rating: D+. Not the worst squash in the world here as Riggs looked decent out there. That’s rather surprising as Riggs is usually one of the least interesting wrestlers on the roster. Luger was his usual self here, meaning he was charismatic but used the same moves he’s done for ten years now.

We takes yet another look at Bischoff being thrown out of the United Center. It really wasn’t that big of a deal.

Juventud Guerrera vs. Prince Iaukea

They trade takedowns to star until Juvy charges into a boot in the corner. Iaukea gets two off a snapmare and breaks up a sunset flip attempt. We hit the early chinlock on Juvy followed by a suplex and chops in the corner. It’s Chinlock: The Sequel followed by another suplex attempt but Guerrera counters into a Fameasser. A top rope corkscrew dive puts Prince down and sets up the 450. Disco runs out to break it up but Juvy dives off with the 450 for the pin just in time.

Rating: C. Short but fine as Disco vs. Juvy continues to build. I’m not sure how good of a match that’s going to be when we get there but it’s nice to see them doing something in the cruiserweight division that doesn’t involve the title. Prince wasn’t bad here but the bald head doesn’t make him more interesting.

Clips from Nitro of Bischoff being thrown out by cops and the mayor of Minneapolis.

Konnan vs. Scott Armstrong

After the usual intro, Konnan hits the rolling clothesline just after the bell. There’s the seated dropkick and Scott bails to the floor, holding his shoulder. Back in and Scott uses his bad arm for a test of strength and rakes Konnan’s eyes to take over. A few basic moves later and we’re in the chinlock. Konnan fights up with some elbows to the ribs but gets dropped by a clothesline. A bulldog and rollup get two on Scott before Konnan kicks him in the ribs, hits the X-Factor and hooks the Sunrise for the win.

Rating: D. These squashes are getting weaker as we’re approaching the end of the show. Konnan was always better on the mic than he was in the ring and this match proved it for the most part. Scott was the least interesting of the Armstrong Family but he wasn’t that bad out there.

Clips of Bret and Sting’s rivalry.

Horsemen video.

Kendall Windham vs. Dean Malenko

Kendall says he knows the Horsemen and can prove Dean doesn’t measure up. Dean hammers away in the corner to start but runs into a big boot. A lariat puts Dean down again but he grabs a sunset flip. Windham punches the mat instead of Dean’s head, allowing Malenko to hit a quick kick to the leg, setting up the Cloverleaf for the win in less than 90 seconds.

Dean grabs the mic and says that’s why he’s a Horseman. The rest of the team comes out and Arn has a mic. He says it’s obvious why the Horsemen are here and calls Bischoff a vicious coward. Bischoff has been making fun of Arn’s physical shortcomings but he’s not even half the man Anderson is. If Bischoff ever makes fun of his family again, Arn will do things to Bischoff that his family should never be allowed to see. Flair says that this is the Horsemen’s party and names each individual member. He’ll be running this company one day and Bischoff will be working for him.

Sting vs. Giant

Giant misses a charge and Sting hammers away but misses the Stinger Splash. The big man steps on his chest and pounds on him in the corner, only to miss a big elbow. Three straight Stinger Splashes set up a slam but Scott Steiner runs in with a chair to the leg for the DQ before the Deathlock.

The NWO lays out Sting until Rick Steiner and the Wolfpack makes the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. It’s still good and a different kind of show from Nitro. This is one of the most frustrating things about WCW. It’s clear that they can put on entertaining shows but we get the garbage that they put on so often anymore that it’s barely worth watching half the time. Good show tonight with some entertaining squashes and small build to the PPV on Sunday.

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Monday Nitro #159
Date: October 19, 1998
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: 15,722
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Lee Marshall, Larry Zbyszko, Tony Schiavone

We’re FINALLY up to the go home show for Halloween Havoc after what seems like months of buildup. Tonight is likely going to focus on Flair getting Bischoff thrown out of the United Center last year, which likely means it’s time for Bischoff to get one up on the Horsemen. Other than that we’re probably going further into the Hogan vs. Warrior mess as it continues to not really have any business on a wrestling show. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Bischoff getting ejected by the owner of the United Center last week in favor of the Horsemen.

Nitro Girls.

The announcers do their intro and former AWA star Larry Zbyszko gets a bigger reaction than usual. We get another package on Bischoff and the Horsemen from last week.

Kenny Kaos vs. Saturn

Kaos takes an early advantage with a hard clothesline but Saturn comes right back with a quick swinging neckbreaker. A spinning springboard forearm gets two on Kaos but he drops Saturn over the top and out to the floor. Back in and Kaos hits a nice gutwrench suplex for two followed by a gorilla press slam. Kaos isn’t looking bad but he’s favoring his elbow after that press. Saturn is sent into the corner and kicked in the back, only to come back with some roundhouse kicks to the head. An overhead suplex puts Kaos down and a falcon’s arrow sets up the Death Valley Driver for the pin.

Rating: C. This was much better than I was expecting with Kaos putting in a nice performance. Apparently some other people thought the same as we’ll be hearing some more from Kaos in the very near future. For the older fans out there, does this victory over Kaos make Saturn a Control agent?

Tenay polls fans about last week’s show.

Halloween Havoc ad.

Normal intro.

Gene brings out Ernest Miller for a chat. Miller says he hates this town and its’ kids in particular. He threatens Gene until Okerlund gets out of the ring and invites anyone to get in the ring for a challenge. A “fan” jumps the barricade and is stopped by security but Miller says let him in. The fan gets destroyed as you would expect and now security takes him away. We get a better look at the fan and it’s none other than future WCW Tag Team Champion Chuck Palumbo.

We recap Nash chasing Hall around for the last few weeks.

Nitro Party video.

Nitro Girls.

Scott Steiner says he was the real success of the Steiner Brothers and he had to overcome Rick’s weaknesses.

Speaking of Rick Steiner, we see his incident with Chuckie last week and the announcers analyze it like it’s a match.

Video on Goldberg vs. DDP.

Damien/Psychosis/El Dandy/Hector Garza vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr./La Parka/Ciclope/La Parka

The former team is LWO and they have their own music now. Damien goes after La Parka’s chair before the bell and gets kicked in the head. Serves him right. This is under lucha rules so going to the floor counts as a tag. Lizmark hammers on Damien in the corner to start and gets two off a hurricanrana before it’s off to La Parka vs. El Dandy with La Parka chopping him in the chest and back. A big enziguri puts Dandy down and it’s off to Ciclope and Garza.

The LWO comes in for a four on one beatdown until Damien snaps off a top rope hurricanrana for two. Garza comes in with a missile dropkick to the back and it’s off to Chavo for the first big pop of the match. Chavo quickly dropkicks him down but things quickly break down.

Psychosis misses a charge into the post but Ciclope comes in with a missile dropkick. Everyone misses something off the top before La Parka and Chavo hit some dives. A Hart Attack with a springboard dropkick from Lizmark gets two on Psychosis but La Parka comes in to clean house with the chair but knocks out Ciclope, giving Psychosis the pin.

Rating: C+. This was the usual fast paced lucha match which was almost impossible to keep track of a the end. La Parka’s chair shot seems to turn him to the LWO which is fine as the team needs some bigger names. The match was able to fire the crowd up as well as advanced the LWO story so nice multitasking WCW.

Post match Eddie comes out and gives La Parka a shirt. So the way to prove you’re united with the other luchadores is to hit another with a chair? Chavo seems happy but walks off, telling Pepe he doesn’t need a shirt.

We look at Bret’s history with Sting and turning on him, leading to the brawl two weeks ago.

Kanyon vs. Scott Putski

We get the Who Better Than Kanyon bit before the match. Kanyon: “You guys just don’t get it.” They fight over hammerlocks and headlocks to start until Scott scores with a few slams. A belly to back suplex gets two on Kanyon but he comes back by sending Putski into the corner and hammering away. Kanyon hits a middle rope Fameasser to send Putski outside and drops him face first onto the apron while standing on the steps. Back in and Putski hits a release overhead belly to belly but gets caught in a fireman’s carry pancake. The Flatliner is enough to get Kanyon the pin.

Rating: C-. Kanyon was fun to watch as always and Putski wasn’t bad either. I still don’t get his choice of attire as he’s an eye patch short of being a pirate from 1638. The match wasn’t bad though and it was a good way to keep Kanyon around. Why can’t we get stuff like this on Thunder?

Video on Hogan vs. Warrior.

Buy WCW Magazine!

Here’s Scott Steiner to start the second hour. He talks about being cold, having freaks and being your hook up. Last week he beat up Buff Bagwell and calls out any Minnesota Vikings here tonight. Instead he gets Rick Steiner who is ready right now if Scott wants a fight. We have a referee down here but Scott says Rick is too easy.

Scott actually gets in and asks if this is going to be a fair fight. Rick says no and decks Scott in the head before pounding him into the corner. Scott charges into a boot as the announcers play up the idea that they know each other so well. A low blow stops Rick and Scott gets a chair as the bell rings. It never rang in the first place so this wasn’t a match. Buff runs out and takes the chair from Scott before nearly killing him with a big swing.

Nitro Girls video.

Nitro Girls in the ring.

We get a clip of a Goldberg autograph signing for charity.

Davey Boy Smith vs. Fit Finlay

Finlay takes him over with a headlock to start but walks into a slam for two. We hit a chinlock from Smith for a few seconds before another slam gets another two count. Finlay comes back with a clothesline and rips at Smith’s face before missing a charge into the buckle. The referee gets poked in the eye, allowing Alex Wright to run in and hit a quick missile dropkick to knock Bulldog into the tombstone from Finlay for the pin.

Rating: D. This was just a filler match and it didn’t do much to fire up the crowd. The King of Europe storyline wasn’t anything interesting when there were only a handful of people involved and they were just trading wins. This was Bulldog’s last appearance on Nitro as he would go to the hospital for a staph infection from breaking his back at Fall Brawl. Bischoff would fire him via FedEx while he was laid up.

Here’s Jericho with Ralphus at his side to brag about beating Greenberg three times in a row. Goldberg wants the sheet writers to think he’s the best but everyone knows that’s nonsense. DDP comes in and calls out “Jerkicho” for his lies and a match is made for later.

Hall is shown at a bar wearing his title belt and wrestling gear. Nothing else to the scene than that.

Wrath vs. Tokyo Magnum

Clothesline, chops and stomps, flying shoulder and the Meltdown are enough for the squash by Wrath.

More charity stuff from UNICEF.

We look at Buff saving Rick and cut to the back to see him throwing away his NWO shirt. Insert your own sarcastic response here.

Disco Inferno/Alex Wright vs. Silver King/Super Calo

Silver King and Calo say not so fast because they have replacements.

Disco Inferno/Alex Wright vs. Dean Malenko/Chris Benoit

An annoyed Bischoff comes out to commentary as Dean cranks on Wright’s wrist. Eric goes on a rant about how there are four people not getting paid tonight: “Those two Mexicans, Arn Anderson and…..make it five!” Dean hammers away on Wright’s head but gets pulled down to the mat. Disco comes in and walks into a suplex, only to pop up with a clothesline to take over. Inferno dances a bit and turns around to get chopped and stomped by Benoit. Everything breaks down and the Crossface quickly ends Disco.

The Horsemen yell at Bischoff who shouts about breach of contract.

Hall is still at the bar.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Chris Jericho

Non-title of course. A shoulder puts Jericho down and he claims a hair pull. Page drives in his shoulders before they fight over hiptosses. That goes nowhere so DDP takes his head off with a left arm clothesline. Page tries to hammer away in the corner but gets dropped down onto the top turnbuckle to change control.

Jericho throws him outside and whips Page into the barricade for two. Page comes back with right hands and the discus lariat followed by a belly to back suplex for a near fall. Jericho grabs a quick jawbreaker and the Lionsault almost gets the upset. A low blow breaks up the Diamond Cutter but Page counters the Liontamer. Page calls for the Diamond Cutter but Goldberg comes in to spear Jericho for the DQ.

Rating: C+. Better match than I was expecting here as Jericho got in a lot of offense and wasn’t entirely beat at the end. They had to do something to give Page and Goldberg a real issue and this was as good as anything else they could have done. It’s always nice to see a champion not do a clean job too.

Page is ticked and the brawl is almost on until referees make the save.

Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Billy Kidman

Rey is returning from an injury to challenge for the title here. They feel each other out to start until Kidman takes him down to the mat in a front facelock. Back up and Rey snaps off a standing hurricanrana before backdropping the champion to the apron. Kidman comes back in with a slingshot headscissors and a hard dropkick gets two. We hit the chinlock for a bit on Mysterio before Kidman sends him into the corner for a running forearm which looked like a blown spot.

Mysterio takes his head off with a spinwheel kick and a high cross body for a very close two. Rey tries his sitout bulldog but gets countered into a wheelbarrow slam, sending Rey to the apron, only to get suplexed out to the floor by the masked man. Back in and Kidman shrugs it off and hits the lifting powerbomb for two. We hit the chinlock on Rey but he fights up and takes Kidman to the floor with a hurricanrana. Rey is favoring his knee but hits a nice flip dive to take Kidman down.

Rey takes too much time going up top and Kidman gets up, only to be dropped stomach first onto the ropes. A legdrop to the back of the head gets two but Rey is too banged up to cover. Kidman slams him down and misses a frog splash, allowing Rey to go up for a top rope seated senton and two.

Tony calls it a Thesz Press and Tenay doesn’t correct him. Mysterio hits a double leg Fameasser for two but gets caught in a powerbomb from the champion for two more. Mysterio crotches Kidman to break up the Shooting Star before taking Kidman to the mat with a hurricanrana for two. A jumping Killswitch gets two for Mysterio and he goes up top, only to dive into a dropkick as the bell rings for the time limit at about thirteen and a half minutes.

Rating: B+. This was one of the best matches we’ve had on Nitro in weeks with both guys countering a lot of stuff but still getting in their own big moves. Mysterio’s knee messing up was fine for a story and Kidman more than held up with the cruiserweight legend. I’m not sure how you can have a legend for a division about two years old but Tony kept using that term.

The Minneapolis mayor comes out holding a proclomation to huge booing and a Jesse chant. She brings out future Baseball Hall of Fame member Kirby Puckett and future NFL Hall of Famer John Randle but the fans still aren’t impressed with her. Maybe it’s the very loud and grating voice? Anyway she brings out Ric Flair and declares it Ric Flair Day in Minneapolis.

Flair is thrilled but here’s Bischoff to complain. He doesn’t need some three named mayor to ruin his show but the mayor says this is her town. Randle and Puckett get between them and cops tell Bischoff to stay back. Apparently Bischoff has some unpaid warrants and has 20 minutes to get out of the arena. Eric promises to be back and walks out but sees his car being towed away.

Nitro Girls.

Scott Norton/Scott Hall/Stevie Ray vs. Konnan/Kevin Nash/Lex Luger

Norton comes out wearing the IWGP Title. Hall staggers out after them and his partners aren’t pleased. That’s actually better than Nash who is nowhere in sight. Luger is back in trunks instead of pants. Konnan does his thing and we cut to the back where Nash is staggering around and dropping a cup.

The bell rings and Kevin slowly comes into the arena. Konnan and Stevie get things going but the Wolfpack asks Nash what’s going on. Kevin tries to get in but Luger and Konnan won’t let that happen. Nash keeps drinking until Luger takes the cup away. Stevie and Konnan get things going with Ray in control until Konnan comes back with the rolling clothesline.

Off to Luger and Norton with Lex throwing him around like he’s nothing. The running forearm puts Norton down but Stevie offers a distraction and the Black and White takes over. Nash is kneeling on the apron, cup in hand. Hall is asking for a tag but Ray and Norton just ignore him. Luger and Norton clothesline each other down and crawl to the corners where Hall and Nash tag themselves in. They make a drunken toast to each other but Nash has an empty cup. The fight is on and Hall gets his clock cleaned until the match is thrown out.

Rating: D. This was an angle instead of a match and that’s fine. The Hall vs. Nash idea is fine but I was hoping for it to be an actual match rather than the whole drunken Hall thing. I’m also not sure why it’s on a stacked Halloween Havoc card when it could have headlined a lower PPV card if treated well.

Hogan vs. Warrior promo.

Hollywood Hogan vs. Horace

Raise your hand if you think this is actually happening. Hollywood comes out to the wrong music at first and tells Michael Buffer that this isn’t happening. Horace comes out and admits that he’s Hollywood’s nephew which I thought was public knowledge before this. Hollywood says they’re blood so he calls the NWO out here to see what blood means to him. He’s proud of Horace and loves him before taking his shirt off.

Hollywood talks about the sacrifices you have to make to be in the NWO and says this is his sacrifice. He blasts Horace with a right hand and goes off on him, saying imagine what he’d do to Warrior if he’d do this to family. A chair shot puts Horace down and everyone but Norton leaves Hollywood alone.

Hogan rants about how Warrior is going to admit Hollywood rules the universe and tells him to say his prayers and take his vitamins. The NWO gets back in the ring and here’s Warrior with a ball bat. He cleans house as Hogan bails to the floor. Giant shrugs off a bat shot and chokeslams Warrior down. Hogan spray paints Warrior’s chest and drops some legs. The crowd has almost no response to this at all. They’re not booing or cheering and just kind of sit there for the whole thing.

Here’s Bret Hart to make a challenge. He runs his mouth about how he has no fans but his cat and calls Sting the worst there is, was and ever will be until Sting comes out for a fight.

Sting vs. Bret Hart

It’s a brawl to start with Sting in full control and hammering away. They head outside with Bret being sent into the barricade. All Sting so far as they head back inside with the big jumping elbow actually connecting for two. Bret gets in a kick to the ribs and drops a headbutt to the abdomen. He rakes Sting’s eyes across the top rope and hits the backbreaker but Sting blocks the middle rope elbow. There’s the Scorpion but Bret makes the rope. Sting doesn’t let go and it’s a DQ. “You might as well go get help because I’m not letting go.”

Rating: D. Again there was nothing to the match but that wasn’t the point. I’m not sure why you would have an actual match between them before Sunday, especially with Sting dominating the whole thing with ease. At least it wasn’t a clean finish or anything so there’s a reason to watch the match Sunday.

Referees can’t get the hold off so Stevie Ray and Vincent come out to pound on Sting. He still won’t leg to as he no sells everything before letting it go on his own. Bret limps away to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was better than most Nitros lately and actually has me wanting to see the show on Sunday. There was entertaining wrestling and all of the major matches for Sunday got screen time. What else can you ask for from a go home show? Also Warrior finally got beaten up and the crowd just didn’t care at all. Good show actually.

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Road Wild 1998
Date: August 8, 1998
Location: Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Sturgis, South Dakota
Attendance: 8,500
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenany, Bobby Heenan

The summer of celebrities continues with one of the worst ideas I can imagine: Jay Leno as a professional wrestler. I still don’t get who this is supposed to attract. Fans of the Tonight Show don’t seem like the kind of people that are going to drop $30 to see something they know is going to be a goofy comedy bit and wrestling fans aren’t going to buy it because it’s Jay Leno as a wrestler. On top of that there’s one match that has been pushed at all here and it’s a battle royal. Why they can’t just do NWO vs. NWO and Goldberg vs. Giant is beyond me but I’d bet politics were involved. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is a collection of Tonight Show clips which still do nothing to change the fact that it’s Eric Bischoff and Jay Leno in the main event.

I’ll give Road Wild this much: no show comes close to having such a unique atmosphere.

The announcers don’t look as ridiculous this year. Tenay in a jean jacket is still ridiculous looking though.

Gene is sitting on a motorcycle to start and brags about 200,000 bikers being here in Sturgis. Not at the show mind you but I’m sure that’s what will be claimed.

The ring and mats are up on a platform instead of level ground.

Meng vs. Barbarian

This is going to be a long show. The fight starts at the bell with both guys pounding on each other and screaming a lot. They fight over a sumo lockup before trading some chops in the corner. Meng takes over with a hard clothesline even though it didn’t knock Barbarian down. Barbarian comes right back with a belly to belly superplex but Meng pops up and piledrives him.

Meng misses a middle rope splash, no sells it, and goes up top again. Barbarian catches him in a belly to belly superplex as Tenay talks about 350,000 people being at the biker rally this week. A powerslam puts Barbarian down but he gets right back up for some chopping. Meng staggers him with some headbutts but gets pulled to the floor. Barbarian sends him into the steps and heads back inside, only to have Meng put on the Tongan Death Grip for the pin.

Rating: D. It sucked as a match but this wasn’t the worst idea for an opening match. A crowd of bikers is going to respond to two monsters beating each other up for five minutes and they seemed interested here. It doesn’t do much for the wrestling fans, but this show was never for them in the first place.

Meng won’t let go of the hold so Jimmy Hart comes in for the save. That goes as well as you would expect so here’s Hugh Morrus for the second save. Meng gets triple teamed, including a top rope splash from Hart, so Jim Duggan makes the final save, drawing a big pop from the bikers that might have watched a few wrestling matches ten years ago.

Tenay’s estimates are now up to 360,000.

Disco Inferno/Alex Wright vs. Public Enemy

Tokyo Magnum is here with the dancers. Wright rolls away from Rocco to start before hiptossing him down and dancing. They fight over a wristlock until Alex dropkicks him down and tags in Disco. He’s not quite ready to fight yet though and drops to the floor for a three way high five with the other dancers. Back in and Disco takes Grunge down with a clothesline before bringing Wright back in for a missile dropkick. Alex stops for some dancing and turns around into a Rocco clothesline.

A double flapjack puts Inferno down and Tokyo throws in a trashcan out of nowhere. Grunge gets cracked over the back as the referee is cool with all of this. Rocco brings in a ladder and that’s too much for the dancers who go for a walk. Tokyo doesn’t want to leave but his partners come back with a table. Disco grabs a mic and says let’s make this a street fight. Tony states the obvious: “Haven’t we already made it one already?”

The referee is fine with that so Public Enemy goes to the back to find a toilet seat and a kitchen sink. Grunge pounds on Disco on the floor as Tony hypes up a cookie sheet. Wright suplexes Rocco through a trashcan but Grunge blasts Alex with the sheet for the save. Rocco loads up the flip dive through the table but Disco makes a save to prevent Wright’s demise. The kitchen sink is brought in and nearly broken over Grunge’s back. The fans want to see the table but they get Tokyo Magnum thrown inside instead.

Public Enemy throws the dancers into each other and give them stereo atomic drops, only to have Wright come back with a leg lariat to Grunge. Tokyo hits Magnum by mistake as Grunge blasts Disco in the face with the ladder. Alex walks away as Rocco see-saws a ladder into Disco’s hair. Now Tokyo walks away, leaving Public Enemy to set up three tables on top of each other next to the platform. Grunge climbs a ladder to put Disco on the top table, allowing Rocco to climb the scaffolding for a huge elbow drop. Grunge has to throw Disco back inside, avoid a top rope splash from a returning Magnum, and get the pin.

Rating: D+. The match was fun and the spot at the end was good (though also odd looking with a delay before each table broke) but it took over fifteen minutes to get there. The wrestling stuff at the beginning was a waste of time and they should have just gone to the street fight stuff from the beginning. Not horrid though.

Dean Malenko says he’ll be a fair referee.

Raven vs. Kanyon vs. Saturn

Under Raven’s Rules, meaning hardcore. Raven’s music is so awesome that it doesn’t belong on a show like this. The question coming into this is whether Kanyon is under Raven’s control or not. Raven stands on the apron and tells Kanyon to get Saturn, only to have Perry take over with some kicks. Raven comes in with a chair to Saturn’s back and sends Kanyon into the post before Saturn falls to the floor as well.

Saturn and Kanyon get in a fight on the floor as Heenan tries to figure out the story of the match as only he can. Raven sits in the corner while the other two fight in the ring but they finally realize what’s going on. Kanyon dropkicks Raven low and Saturn belly to back suplexes Raven into a Kanyon neckbreaker. Kanyon throws Raven into Saturn and hits rolling Russian legsweeps on Raven for two in a nice move. Saturn breaks up the cover with a guillotine legdrop on Raven for two and the Moss Covered Three Handled Family Credenza gets the same on Raven.

Kanyon gets in another fight with Saturn so Raven blasts them both in the head with a chair, only to be sent to the floor. Saturn follows him out so Kanyon dives on both guys, giving us our first breather in awhile. They get off the platform where Kanyon whips Raven HARD into the barricade. Raven comes back with a suplex to put Kanyon down on the ramp (designed like a road) but Saturn clotheslines Raven down for two. Kanyon piledrives Saturn on the stage for two more before Raven dropkicks Kanyon down the stage.

They fight back to the ring where both guys drop down to avoid a charging Raven before Saturn catches him with a t-bone suplex. Saturn puts Raven in a sleeper but Kanyon puts one on Saturn as well before a jawbreaker puts everyone down. We get a Tower of Doom with Kanyon superplexing Saturn and Raven putting Kanyon in an electric chair.

Raven tries a double DDT on both guys but only puts Saturn down. Kanyon and Raven head outside with Raven getting suplexed onto the floor. Kanyon misses a splash off the scaffolding but Saturn catches Raven in the Death Valley Driver. Lodi makes the save but Horace comes in to lay out Saturn. Horace picks up the stop sign but gets blinded by Lodi’s powder. He caves Raven’s head in and a Death Valley Driver to Raven gives Saturn the pin.

Rating: C. This was a mess but it was supposed to be. I’m still not sure where they go with this story now but it would seem to still be Raven vs. Saturn. Kanyon was just there to keep spots going and he did a good job, but that doesn’t mean he helped the story or really changed anything.

Psychosis vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Bonus match and the winner gets a Cruiserweight Title shot at a date to be determined. Since that’s not important, the announcers talk about Leno being nervous. Psychosis takes him to the mat with a headlock followed by an armbar. Rey tries to get up but gets taken back down by the wrist. The crowd is dead for this which shouldn’t shock anyone. Back up again and Rey can’t hook a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker so Psychosis clotheslines him down for two.

A sitout front suplex gets two for Psychosis and he whips Rey from corner to corner. Rey’s arms are wrapped around the ropes in the corner as this somehow gets even slower. It’s not terrible mind you but it’s the completely wrong style for these two to be working. Psychosis suplexes Rey down and goes up top, only to do the most obvious “I’m going up here to jump into his raised boots because I’m jumping straight down instead of doing ANY kind of move at all” spot I can remember in a long time.

Rey FINALLY realizes that he’s the king of cruiserweights and cartwheels at Psychosis before jumping onto his shoulders for a spinning hurricanrana. Believe it or not, the crowd actually responds to the high spot. After nothing of note on the floor, Rey hits a big cross body for two but has his hurricanrana countered into a sitout powerbomb. That’s enough of the big spots though and it’s nerve hold time. Rey fights up onto Psychosis’ shoulders but gets dropped back into a suplex for two.

They head outside again where Psychosis….does nothing. Back inside with Psychosis putting on a half crab before going up top for a super Frankensteiner for two. Psychosis goes up again but turns his back to Rey, only to get dropkicked out to the floor. Rey follows him out with a nice dive before throwing him back inside for a springboard sunset flip for a close two.

Mysterio hits something like a Fameasser with both legs across Psychosis’ back followed by a slingshot moonsault for two. Psychosis comes back with something resembling a Fameasser of his own for two but Rey avoids a charge and West Coast Pops his way to the #1 contendership.

Rating: D+. This felt like a car that was low on gas. You could get it going for a few moments, but eventually it would sputter and die. These two are capable of having some awesome matches but instead they were happy with just laying around and doing nothing most of the time. Rey was trying but Psychosis looked horrible.

TV Title: Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Stevie Ray

Before the match Chavo shows off another hand made and stamped document saying that he’s the TV Champion, so Stevie needs to come out here and give him his belt. Chavo tries to do the handshake bit again but Stevie runs away because he doesn’t want to win a match by submission for some reason. Instead Stevie just punches him in the head and blocks a sunset flip with a choke. Chavo bails to the floor as the announcers call this a version of the rope-a-dope. Guerrero tries to sneak in but gets caught in the Slap Jack (lifting Pedigree) for the quick pin. This was a nothing squash.

Eddie saves Chavo from a further beating post match.

Jericho promises to keep the title and warns Malenko to be good tonight.

Rick Steiner vs. Scott Steiner

Rick is in jeans and a t-shirt…and here’s JJ to say hang on a second. Apparently Scott is too injured to wrestle and here he is on a stretcher with his arm and leg in casts, a neck brace, and on an oxygen tube. Rick’s chair shot to Scott was so bad that even Buff’s neck is reinjured. The match is rescheduled for Fall Brawl, and the fans are LIVID. If Scott doesn’t fight at Fall Brawl, he’s suspended for life. Scott jumps up but runs away from a charging Rick to end this stupid bait and switch.

Brian Adams vs. Steve McMichael

Another bonus match which is about as welcome as 847 angry yellowjackets pouring buckets of boiling tar on your back and injecting you with needles filled with herpes while a blind monk with a bad case of the shakes checks you for a hernia. They shove each other around to start before not having a test of strength. We get the ugliest mistimed sequence this side of Tough Enough as Adams misses a clothesline and they just kind of run into each other and McMichael putting on a front facelock.

Adams slams him down and drops a pair of legs for two. We hit the nerve hold for a LONG time before Adams hits a backbreaker and bends Mongo over his knee. Mongo avoids a middle rope knee drop and comes back with a belly to back suplex. A few three point shoulders take Adams down but he shrugs them off and loads up a piledriver, only to have the referee kicked in the face. Vincent tries to bring in a chair but cracks Adams by mistake, setting up the tombstone for the pin.

Rating: E. As in ebola, which sounds a lot better than sitting through this match ever again. On to ANYTHING else please.

The Nitro Girls are around Gene on the motorcycle.

Cruiserweight Title: Chris Jericho vs. Juventud Guerrera

Dean Malenko is refereeing and Jericho is defending. Jericho comes to the ring in a purple kimona because that’s the kind of guy he is. As always, he wants us to want him but opts to tease the bikers instead. I wonder if there are any Aces and 8’s in the crowd. Jericho takes him into the corner to start and Malenko tears him away as he’s supposed to do. Juvy takes out Jericho’s legs and chops away but Jericho elbows him in the face to take over again.

Juvy is sent to the floor and Jericho loads something up but Dean pulls him to the mat by the hair. Well at least according to Tenay, as the camera was on Juvy the entire time. Back in and Juvy slams Jericho onto the mat and a missile dropkick sends the champion outside. Guerrera chops him off the platform and into the barricade before going inside for a HUGE placha over the platform and into Jericho into the barricade.

Back in and Juvy gets two off a springboard cross body but Jericho catches another cross body attempt into something resembling a Juvy Driver for two. Dean’s count was noticeably slow and the count off a delayed vertical suplex is even slower. Juvy rolls out to the floor while Jericho yells at some fans before getting hit with a backsplash for two. We hit the chinlock on Guerrera before Chris stomps away and talks trash.

The Lionsault hits knees and Juvy comes back with chops and a hurricanrana. A top rope spinwheel kicks gets the same……slow……two……count from Dean but Jericho counters a running hurricanrana into a powerbomb. Jericho kicks him out to the apron instead of covering and kicks Juvy onto the floor. Back in and a clothesline gets two on Guerrera as the crowd is trying to care about this.

A Jericho powerbomb is countered into a DDT to wake the fans up a bit and the Juvy Driver gets a two count. Jericho is dazed but still manages to crotch Guerrera on the top and superplex him back down. Juvy rolls over for two but has another hurricanrana countered into the Liontamer. He’s right in front of the ropes though and Jericho is getting frustrated.

Juvy pounds away in the corner and Dean seems to have been poked in the eye. A belt shot lays out the challenger but Dean’s slow count means it’s only for two. Jericho is all ticked off and goes to the middle rope. He kicks Dean in the chest and that makes Malenko snap. Well snap as much as he’s capable of. Dean launches a charging Juvy into a middle rope Frankensteiner for the pin and the title.

Rating: B-. The match was good but it’s running with the anchor of this entire show. Maybe the heat of the day has something to do with it but these matches have all been incredibly sluggish. Juvy was trying here and Jericho was his usual great self but they could only get so far. Again though, why didn’t they just have Dean take the title himself?

Battle Royal

Goldberg, Scott Hall, Curt Hennig, The Giant, Scott Norton, Sting, Lex Luger, Kevin Nash, Konnan

You can be eliminated either over the top or by pin/submission. Hall interrupts the ridiculously long entrances with the survey to keep this show going even longer. The NWO factions brawl while Goldberg hides in the corner. That lasts about fifteen seconds before Goldberg goes after Giant, which should have been a regular match tonight in the first place. Again that doesn’t last long and the match breaks down into a regular battle royal.

Hall loads up the Outsiders’ Edge on Goldberg but gets backdropped out. Nash eliminates himself (you can’t make up jokes like this) and goes after Hall as Goldberg spears Hennig down. Things get slow again with no one trying for an elimination. Goldberg finally pounds on Giant but gets headbutted back against the ropes. The fans chant for Goldberg as Giant takes him down with a Russian legsweep. Norton breaks up a Scorpion attempt on Hennig to keep the crowd bored.

Goldberg spears Konnan and throws him out before getting kicked in the corner by Giant. The NWO keeps fighting and Goldberg goes right back to the corner to wait for the next victim. It’s a short wait this time as he spears and eliminates Hennig before clotheslining Sting and Norton to the floor as well. We’re down to Luger, Giant and Goldberg but there’s a spear to Luger so Giant can dump him. A chokeslam puts Goldberg down but he does the Undertaker sit up and it’s a spear and Jackhammer for the win.

Rating: F. Holy sweet goodness how did WCW survive this long? There were eight eliminations in this match and Goldberg had six of them. The other two were a self elimination and someone Goldberg knocked out cold. There were, conservatively, five PPV title matches in there and Goldberg beat them all in less than eight minutes. You could have easily had someone throw Goldberg out and set them up as the challenger but instead let’s just have him destroy EVERYONE (except Nash of course because Nash losing would just be silly) and leave you with no challengers. But hey, a bunch of bikers cheered right?

Jay Leno/Diamond Dallas Page vs. Eric Bischoff/Hollywood Hogan

Thank goodness they don’t have another video package to set this up. The one good thing about this: Liz ROCKING some jeans and chaps. Leno is apparently here to defend his title as King of Late Night. Kevin Eubanks is at ringside. Leno throws water at Hogan and Bischoff on the floor to show how serious he is. Hogan and Page start (thank goodness) and we get the usual non-action headlined by a wristlock.

Page drives in the shoulders and hits a big right hand, knocking Hogan into a left hand from Leno. Hogan is sent to the floor and the ripped Kevin Eubanks sends him into the post. Leno leads a chant against Hogan and is at least into the match. Bischoff comes in and Jay tries to go after him but gets held back. Page shrugs off some kicks to the chest and it’s off to Leno. Bischoff runs away to Hogan and Jay stays in. He points at his chin and makes fun of Hogan’s baldness which is about what you would expect. Leno avoids a pair of right hands and tags in Page.

Hogan clotheslines Page down and it’s back to the driving shoulders. Leno comes back in to grab the wrist and in one of the most painful things I can remember seeing as a wrestling fan, Hogan sells it. He wouldn’t sell for Sting at Starrcade but he’s selling for Jay Leno. Hogan shoves him into the corner and drives in a knee but Leno grabs the wrist again. A double clothesline puts Hogan down and Leno gets two before nearly collapsing into a tag to Page. Ok to be fair to Leno, he did his job and was actually trying. Points for that.

The wrestlers head to the floor and Eubanks steals a chair from Hogan to keep Page in control. Back in and Bischoff gets in a kick to the back of Page’s head to change momentum. Bischoff gets in his shots to make himself feel important before Hogan gets in a shot with a foreign object to give Eric a two count. There’s the big boot but Page gets up before the legdrop and takes Hogan down with the discus lariat.

Leno gets the hot tag and we get the showdown with Bischoff…..who drops Leno with a poke to the eye. Jay comes back with a low blow and some right hands before sending Bischoff into some buckles. Leno is totally gassed and everything breaks down. Hogan hits Bischoff by mistake and Eubanks hits a very good looking Diamond Cutter on Bischoff to give Leno the pin.

Rating: D. Of course that’s on an adjusted scale. This match wasn’t horrible but it was incredibly stupid. Again I’d like to reiterate that Leno did his job to the best of his ability. He did his comedy stuff, took a few shots from Hogan and got the pin on Bischoff. He was bad, but you knew that was going to happen as soon as this was announced. As for the booking, there were a bunch of other ideas they could have gone with here and this was probably the worst possible outcome.

You could have gone with the Battle of the Billionaires idea with Leno backing Page against Hogan in a singles match and done the showdown with Bischoff that way. You could have swapped in Goldberg for Page and done Goldberg vs. Hogan II with the same Leno vs. Bischoff outside stuff. Do that and put Page in the battle royal to get Goldberg’s next challenger. You could have done any of those things and gotten a better result, but it wouldn’t be WCW if they had gone that way.

Hogan and Bischoff get in more cheap shots until Goldberg comes in for the save. The good guys pose to end the wrestling part of the show.

The announcers talk and we get a video on Fall Brawl.

Gene interviews some fans as Travis Tritt gets ready.

The announcers wrap things up as the concert starts to end the show.

Overall Rating: F. There’s no other way to put it: this show sucked. The ONLY good match is the Cruiserweight Title match and maybe you could argue the triple threat, which was done on Nitro just a few weeks earlier. WCW is in a creative tailspin here and it’s not looking any better. Depending on your tastes, things are about to get either a lot more fun or a lot worse as the product is going to go from dull to awful in a hurry.

 

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